Ed Loizeaux’s thoughts about “DCC Friendly” turnouts.

Ed is one of the authors the “Digital Command Control, a comprehensive guide to DCC”

Dough B asked this question on the Yahoo NCE-DCC group on May 26, 2007.

“Does anyone have any experience with Shinohara dual gauge turnouts and converting them to make them DCC friendly? Can these Shinohara dual gauge turnouts be made DCC friendly or is that not a real option? Any information would be greatly appreciated.”

------------------------------------------------------------

Ed’s reply:

Hello Doug.....

Interesting question to be sure. My thoughts are that ANY turnout that works properly with DC will also work with DCC -- without modification. Admittedly, there are a lot of folks out there that will disagree, but that's my opinion and I'm stickin' to it -- to use a Fortinism expression. Here is why:

If ANY track work is properly gauged AND if all the wheels are properly gauged, there should be no momentary short circuits occurring at the turnouts. The backsides of wheels will not graze the open point and will not cause a short. Just will not happen IF both wheels and track are properly gauged. And that momentary grazing is the main reason some folks go to extreme lengths to make sure it cannot happen. The popular press has implied that modifying turnouts to become "short resistant" (my preferred term for this modification) is practically mandatory -- which is totally incorrect. It is not mandatory. It is an alternative.

Even the NMRA/PCR seems to have jumped onto the "modify turnouts so DCC will work" bandwagon. A couple of weeks ago, the annual regional convention was held in Santa Cruz and my home layout was on the layout tours list. A couple of fellows came by and inquired about the so-called "DCC friendly turnout modification" that they had heard about while attending a clinic at the convention. They were nice fellows, returning to the hobby after many years of inactivity, and generally just at the learning stages regarding DCC. They had been convinced by some clinician that they had to tear out all their turnouts from an existing layout and modify them to make them DCC friendly and then reinstall them. They were not happy campers about that at all. They were sure smiling when they left here with a better understanding of the situation -- which might well apply to your dual gauge turnout as well.

The main thrust of my argument here is to attack the CAUSE of a problem instead of dealing only with the SYMPTOM of the problem. Yes, gapping and insulating various pieces of rail can reduce or eliminate the problems caused by wheels grazing points. The symptoms (short circuits) can be eliminated by various gapping techniques. But the CAUSE of the problem remains -- namely, the track and wheels are not gauged properly and the grazing continues on. With DC, the grazing shorts might not be noticeable or a problem. With DCC, the repercussions are more severe and folks become annoyed. Humans, being what they are, conclude that DCC caused the problem -- since it was not a problem before. But, in reality, DCC did not cause the problem since the momentary shorts were already there with DC long before DCC came along.

My layout has over 70 turnouts, none of which are "short resistant", and everything works just fine with DCC and Soundtraxx and all the rest of the new fangled electronic stuff. The track is gauged properly, the wheels are gauged properly, there are no derailments (except those caused by human error), and things work very well. In my mind, this proves my theory is correct -- namely modifying turnouts is not mandatory at all. All my turnouts have printed circuit board throw bars soldered to both points and continuous closure rails (no gaps) and all-metal frogs and -- in the minds of some -- are a disaster waiting to happen. But there are literally no problems at all. How could that be?

I would suggest that with your dual gauge turnout, you check the track gauge with the appropriate NMRA-sanctioned gage and also check the wheels of your longest-wheel-base loco and run it through very slowly with DC. Watch the ammeter and see if the needle twitches. Adjust track and wheels until everything works smoothly. Even expensive imported brass models are sometimes out of gauge. As are mass produced Chinese plastic models. Nothing is exempt. Then apply DCC. Use of a Switch Master turnout motor will provide greater force on the throw bar and hold those points more firmly against the stock rail. No need for power routing through auxiliary contacts or manual means at all. Ask me how I know......been doing it for years. Tortoise has a weaker throw strength than Switch Master, but it can be increased with a larger diameter piece of music wire with stiffer spring action. A bit of experimenting is advisable if you go down that route.

So the alternatives, as I see them, are (1) tear apart the dual gauge turnout(s) and re-gap/rebuild it, or (2) gauge track and wheels properly. Both methods will work just fine. And, in some special cases, one method might be easier than the other. But, y'know, the track and wheels should be gauged properly anyway -- regardless of the so-called "DCC friendly" theory -- so that the flanges do not pick the frog or get squeezed at crossings.

Hope all this helps....Ed Loizeaux